Internet Field Trip Week 8

This tutorial task asked me to go on an internet field trip to explore 3D Instant messaging websites, and then answer the question on what differences these 3D IM’s have to regular IM’s like MSN.

To start off, I am a MSN User and think it is great, just what I need and easy to use.
However, when looking at the advantages of Active Worlds it is an environment that enables you visit and chat in incredible 3D worlds that are built by other users! The Active Worlds Universe is a community of hundreds of thousands of users that chat and build 3D virtual reality environments in millions of square kilometers of virtual territory. Clearly, the fact that it is in a 3D envrionment appeals more to those who are into 'Virtual Reality.' Moreover, another fabulous advantage is that whil eyou are waiting for a reply from your friends, or even another user, you can explore the envrionment and meet new people!

IM like MSN is purely what it is, a instant messaging chatroom, but you can customise and choose your contacts etc. But a 3D IM like Activeworlds allows for something entirely different. MSN does allow users to interact through video conversations and also games such as Soliatire, chess etc.

Now The qualitative difference between these two mesaging systems is that the behaviour of the people involved can be expressed in many different ways in the 3d environment. For instance, emoticons, they can be expressed in a far more descriptive manner. Little changes like so adds a whole other feature to which people can be drawn into using.

In summary, while the 3d Envrionment looks appealing, it does have some disadvantages. While MSN is easy to use, Active worlds do seem a bit complex to tthose who aren't familar to Virtual reality etc. Another thing, due to the fact it is so advanced, it did in fact chew up my downloads!